Sexual Play in the Galapagos Islands

ANU/ABC radio in 1997, was to discover whether it is possible to decentre humans in accord with Darwin's work across species; ie against the anthropomorphising tendencies of most nature films (increasingly important to current environmental concerns). While video artist Bill Viola provides immersive experiences for viewers and interactive artists like Lozarno-Hemmercreate works changeable by audiences, Jones uniquely activates viewers imaginatively as participants through her unique research into endowment. Here they only see/hear close-ups of Galapagos Islands animals through peepholes in a rough wall that references construction sites. Behind the wall they can hear erotic stories of meetings on islands in languages associated with the Galapagos, with a background of animal sounds that bleed through the wall. The viewers are thus transported to the Galapagos, viewing the animals as Darwin did, or becoming fellow tourists, listening to gossip of sexual adventures. The wall itself becomes the transporting medium. The use of untranslated voices speaking English, Spanish, German (as in the Galapagos), is also innovative, supporting the experience of being a tourist, where one is surrounded by people speaking while you cannot generally understand. This is the most extreme version of cultural diversity experienced as language difference in Jones' research, testing the possibilities of working across untranslated languages. This new installation for Darwin with Tears (a major exhibition of 15 years of addressing Darwin's work) shown throughout ACCA, Melbourne, was commissioned by Director Juliana Engberg, curated by Hannah Matthews with major funding from the Australia Council. The accompanying book included chapters by Engberg, Professors Elizabeth Grosz, Margaret Plant, Lyndal Jones and Scott McQuire.